The term ‘supervisor’ refers to a person who assigns work to subordinates and oversees their activities and performance. In management the first line managers at operating level are called ‘supervisors’ because it is the primary duty of first line managers to supervise the employees engaged in the basic operations (also called operating workforce) (Ahuja, 2005, p.225).
Supervision
In management, the term ‘supervision’ means overseeing the subordinates at work by their superiors. It is the function of leading, co-coordinating and directing the work of others to accomplish designated objectives. It refers to the direct and immediate guidance and control of subordinates in the performance of their task (Sharma, 204, p.110).
ROLE OF SUPERVISOR IN AN ORGANIZATION
The role of a supervisor in an organization has been shown below: Fig. Role of Supervisor (Sharma, 204, p.111)
(a) As Mediator- Supervisor acts as a mediator between higher-level management and the workers.
(b) As Medium of Communication – supervisor acts as a medium of communication between higher-level managers and workers. He explains management policies to the workers and conveys the workers’ attitudes, opinions, grievances and problems to higher-level management (Silbiger, p.103). In other words, he communicates
(i) To the workers what the management expects from them and
(ii) To the management what the workers want. Thus, supervisor bridges the gap between the expectations of management and demands of operatives and workers.
(c) As Convertor – Supervisor acts as a convertor in the sense that he occupies such a key position which turns plans and policies into actual results through the efforts of workers.
(d) As Inspirer – supervisor acts as an inspirer in the sense that he inspires workers to cooperate and contribute to the best of their capability for the achievement of organizational objectives.
(e) As Leader – Supervisor acts as a leader in the sense that he influences the workers to work with team spirit for the achievement of organizational objectives. He also provides a cohesive force, which holds the group intact and develops a spirit of cooperation and discipline among the employees.
(f) As Guide and Friend – Supervisor acts as a guide and friend in the sense that he educates and trains the workers, creates friendly environment and solves the disputes of the workers. In this way, he ensures team spirit, co-operation and discipline amongst the members (Sharma, 2004, p.115)
Thus, the Supervisor is expected to secure not only the efficiency of operations but also the team spirit, co-operation and discipline among the employees.
DETERMINING EFFECTIVE ORIENTATION AND TRAINING METHODS
• Training and Development
Training is usually taken to mean providing employees with knowledge or specific job skills to satisfy immediate job or organizational needs. This could range from assembly workers learning new techniques to enable them to increase output, to managers learning how to better manage their time. (Yvonne, 1999, p.120)
Development usually refers to preparing employees for longer-term opportunities. It encompasses both personal and organizational needs and has a more general focus.
Supervisor provides training and development in an organization usually following four steps:
(a) Identifying employees training and development needs;
(b) Developing a training plan for each individual;
(c) Selecting or designing or conducting training activities;
(d) Evaluating the results.
Supervisor identifies training needs in an organization by following three main methods:
i. New employees – training is required immediately in order for the employees to perform the work satisfactorily.
ii. Performance appraisals – an employee’s output may indicate that further training is required, or he or she may request training in a specific area.
iii. Future needs – employees are trained in anticipation of future needs (often involving the use of technology).
Care must be taken by the supervisor to ensure that training will solve a specific problem. Sometimes other options may be more effective, such as: changing the job, or some aspect of it; changing the salary or wage structure; or introducing flexible working hours Sometimes various types of training activity are used simply to motivate employees. (Yvonne,1999, p.125)
Supervisor in some organizations develop formal training plans for their employees. Such training plans tend to be more specific for people in the lower levels of the organization, and more general for people at higher levels. Sometimes such training is part of the career development for certain individuals.
• Improving The Work Environment
People whose work is highly specialized, repetitive and routine may become dissatisfied with their job. This dissatisfaction often shows itself by reduced output, increased absenteeism and high staff turnover. This very quickly reduces effectiveness of a work area, and influences the effectiveness of the whole organization. A number of approaches have been developed to try to overcome this problem.
i. Job Enlargement
Job enlargement increases the scope of the job. Employees are given more variety in order to increase job satisfaction. Usually various work functions from a horizontal slice of a work area are combined, giving employees more tasks to perform. Sometimes tasks are rearranged between several employees so that each employee gets a sense of the wholeness of a job. (Yvonne,1999, p.129)
ii. Job Enrichment
With this approach individual employees may be given responsibility for deciding the best way to perform a particular task, and for correcting their own errors. They may also be involved in making decisions, which affect their own work areas.
iii. Job Rotation
Job rotation is a system whereby employees move from one job to another. This rotation may occur over various time spans, from, say, every two hours, to every week or month. It gives employees increased variety, and helps to relieve the monotony of routine, repetitive work. It also gives employees the opportunity to develop different skills, and mix with different people
iv. Semi-autonomous Work Groups
Semi-autonomous work groups are groups of employees working together, who se largely self-sufficient in terms of managing the tasks and functions for which they are responsible. This approach gives employees a sense of identity with, and responsibility to, the group. (Yvonne, 1999, p.131)
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his performance on the job and his potential for development. Performance appraisal helps the supervisors to evaluate the performance and to know the potentials of their subordinates systematically and periodically in following ways: (Yvonne, 1999, p.144)
(a) It helps in the correct placement of workers.
(b) Performance rating helps in guiding and correcting employees.
(c) It helps the employees to know where they stand and consequently they try to improve their performance.
(d) The performance appraisal helps to find out the ability of the personnel. This will stimulate them to better their performance in a bid to improve their rating over others.
(e) Ratings can be used as the basis of sound personnel policy in relation to transfer and promotion.
(f) Performance appraisal helps in designing the training programme in better way.
(g) The performance appraisal if done scientifically and systematically will prevent grievances and develop a sense of confidence amongst workers because they are convinced of the impartial basis of evaluation.
Various Methods of Performance Appraisal
It consists of
(a) Rank order rating
(b) Paired comparison method
(c) Forced distribution rating.
Rank order rating- it is a simple process of placing employees in a rank in order to observe job performance. It permits comparison of all employees in any single rating group regardless of the type of work. All workers are judged on the same factors. This method eliminates the necessity of comparing an individual’s performance with the definition of satisfactory or excellent performance.
Paired comparison method- In paired comparison system every employee in a job family is compared with every other employee to determine who is a better worker.
Forced Distribution System – The forced distribution system is applicable to a large group of employees. This system is based on the presumption that all employees can be divided into five-point scale of outstanding, above average, blow average and poor. In this system the appraiser is asked to distribute the employees into one of these categories in such a way that 10% of the men are in-group ‘outstanding’ 20% above average 40% average 20% below average and 10% ‘poor’. (Yvonne, 1999, p.149)
Appraisal Interview
The appraisal interview had two objectives. First was to justify recommended salary action and secondly, to present an opportunity for the manager to review his subordinate’s performance and promote discussion on needed improvements.
Management By Objective Approach To Performance Appraisal
With MBO the subordinate evaluates himself against standards that he has set himself. If this method of merit rating is handled properly the atmosphere becomes less punitive and exalting than is a conventional appraisal (Ahuja, 2005, p.227). This method is a two-way process where not only the subordinate performance is appraised but the relationship between the subordinate and superior also improves.
IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY FOR TEAMS
In an organization, the activities of supervisor are directed towards meeting the following general objectives for Improving Productivity for Teams:
i. Optimum utilization of resources.
The main objective supervisors in organizations are to secure maximum output with minimum efforts and resources. Human Resource management is basically concerned with utilizing the human and material resources available to enterprise for deriving the best results. This leads to reduction in the cost of production.
ii. Increasing efficiency of factors of production.
Through proper utilization of various factors of production like capital and labor, supervisors leads to avoidance of wastage of time money and efforts, This leads to increase in the productivity of all factors of production and thus encourages the growth of an enterprise.
iii. Securing maximum prosperity for employers and employees.
This is one of the main objectives of supervisors in an organization and aims at securing maximum prosperity for the employers by generating high profits at minimum cost (Silbiger, p.137). It also aims at prosperity for the employees by providing reasonable remuneration and other benefits for their services to the organization.
iv. Ensuring human betterment and social justice.
Supervisors in an organization also aim to raise the standard of living and quality of life of people. It provides more leisure and amenities to people. Management provides social justice through its uniform policies.
CONFLICTS IN AN ORGANIZATION
The conflict-free company has never existed and will never exist. Antagonism, tensions, aggressions, stereotypes, negative attitudes and the frustration and perceived conflicting needs will always be present, whenever men are forced to live and work together.
The management job within the business organization calls for the supervisor to function in such a way as to maximize the coordination of human and work system and to minimize the conflict of the individual within the formal organization.
Four Tools of supervisor for Conflict Resolution:
These are
(a) Avoidance,
(b) Repression,
(c) Sharpening into conflict, and
(d) Transformation into problem solving.
Avoidance
A supervisor can avoid the occurrence of many differences among his subordinates. For example, he can place people in groups whose experiences are similar, who have had similar training and who come from a similar level of society. Because of something is common, these people tend to see things similarly, to have common interests and objectives, to approach problems in much the same way. The behavior of such groups is more predictable and it is easy for the supervisor to avoid conflict. Another way of avoiding differences is the controlling of interpersonal contacts of the people. He can place two conflicting individuals in different groups or physical locations. (Ahuja, 2005, p.245).
Repression
The important question that arises here is whether the conflicts should be suppressed in the beginning or not. Most of the people view conflict as something very bad and so according to them it should always to avoided. This approach may work well in certain specific situations. The supervisor who uses this approach continuously runs the risk of reducing the total creativity of his staff. In an atmosphere where differences are avoided, no new idea will come into surface and the old ideas are likely to go unexamined. There is genuine danger of the organization’s slipping unknowingly into a rut of complacency.
Sharpening into Conflict
The persons involved in the conflict can bring to bear on the problem a greater variety of insight. If the differences are seen as enriching, the individuals involved are likely to come up with a better solution because many-problems can be seen clearly only if the individuals who see different aspects come together and pool their information. When it comes to choosing courses of action for a given problem, differences among the individuals in an organization can help to increase the range and variety of alternatives suggested.
Transformation of Conflict
The transformation of conflict into problem solving situation may also help to deal with some of the feelings, which often accompany disagreement, frustration, resentment and hostility. The supervisor using this approach may help to channelise the energy generated by feelings into creative, rather than into destructive activities. For this, he should clarify the nature of conflict and give recognition t6 the feelings of individuals involved. He should also give attention for maintaining relationships between the disputing parties and should create appropriate vehicles for communication among the disputing parties (Ahuja, 2005, p.249).
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE RECOGNITION
Recognition of employee performance increases the morale of them and stimulates an urge to excel at the work place, spreading cheer to the families and enhancing the social status of the employee. Sometimes photographs of good performers are displayed and also at felicitation functions publicity in house journals, letters of appreciation-all these increases the morale of the individual and team efforts to boost the quality of work. In some organizations, Non-financial motivation schemes are implemented.
Supervisor must understand the various components of job, for the motivation of employees, are:
(a) Growth. An employee needs to feel he is working towards the highest level of responsibility.
(b) Achievement. Each employer needs to believe his job matters.
(c) Responsibility. An employee job must allow developing self-reliance, knowing that success or failure depends on him.
(d) Recognition. An employee needs verification from others what they recognize his achievements.
IMPROVING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
Improving Standard of Living
The employee’s participation would improve when the company takes steps to maximize his joy of living at home and in the larger society. Following are the key areas where the supervisor has to concentrate to improve the quality of work life (Bhaia & Batra, 2005, p.62).
(a) Provision of housing facilities
(b) Provision of entertainment facilities
(c) Arranging family get-togethers
(d) Developing the talents
(e) Managerial involvement in family functions
(f) Medical facilities.
(g) Sports and games facilities
(h) Scholarship facilities to improve academic performance
(i) Counseling centers
(j) Company support in consumerism
(k) Post-retirement benefits.
(l) Associating families in company functions.
(m) Protecting the employees’ families during times of crisis.
(n) Educating the employees on family welfare, savings, civic sense, etc.
Social Responsibility
Generally, societal factors determine the attitudes, work patterns and the living ways of the employees. Improvement in work life therefore depends upon improvements in the social conditions. Infrastructure development provides a facelift to the society in which the employees still have their roots. Generally, the worm-like, besides fostering the growth of the company, ensures the progress of the society around. The social service areas have large scope for more dynamic HRD thrust on strengthening the bondage between the organization and the individual.
Educating the employees on the lines of decent living, alcoholism, indebtedness, family conflicts, etc. and provision of facilities to fulfill the religious/ social duties of the employees. All these emphasize the need for off the job improvements as a precondition to the improvement of work life (Bhaia & Batra, 2005, p.63).
To conclude, supervisor initiatives should envisage all dimensions of work place, home and society. Quality efforts should generate a continuous drive for self-actualization of human potential at work place, happiness at home and prosperity of society at large.
Organizational Communication
Communication can be defined as a process, which links people and system to produce an effective organization. Supervisors are involved in two kind of communication-interpersonal and organization. The former is a process of sharing information and understanding between two people or a small group: the latter makes use of systems to share information and understanding with large number of people.
Supervisor can minimized the barriers to organizational communication if mechanisms are employed to overcome constraints caused by organizational structure; if communication channel are kept open; if a positive environment is maintained; and if various different means of communications are employed (Yvonne, 1999, p.158).
All employees in he organization should feel that they could express their observation and constructive criticisms, both vertically and horizontally. Benefits include improved morale, increased employee participation in achievement of organizational objectives and greater loyalty to the organization.
CONCLUSION
Supervisor plays an important role in the success, efficiency and soundness of an organization.
The ‘Team’, its people, their caliber and their attitude to succeed and out perform determine success of any organization. Employees are the only resource, which is capable of self-propulsion and value addition. Unlike any machinery that gets devalued or depreciated with time and age, the human resource i.e. people appreciates with age and experience (Silbiger, p.156). So they are very special but this fruitful only if people are developed and kept satisfied. It is unlikely that any improvement can be made in terms of production, productivity, quality or customer service until people are developed.
References
Ahuja K. (2005)Human Resource Management. Kalyani Publishers. Calcutta.
Pp 223-283
Bhaia B S & Batra G S, Business Management: Human resource Development, Deep &Deep
Publications, 2005, pp.52- 63
Sharma MC. (2004). Business Studies. S Chand & Company. New Delhi. Pp 110-
115
Silbiger Steven. A Ste By Step Guide to Mastering The Skills Taught in Top
Business Schools. Piatkus Books. London. Pp 103-156
Yvonne Mc Laughhlin. Business Management: A Practical guide for Managers,
Supervisors and Administrators. Business Information Books, 1999. Pp 120-159